By Astrid Galvan
Albuquerque Journal
ALBUQUERQUE, NM — An Albuquerque police officer interrogating a man who had been shot in the head ended up foiling a murder plot against a witness in a carjacking case, police said Friday.
Officer Ferris Simmons was named a Friday hero this week by Mayor Richard Berry, who each week honors a public safety worker who goes beyond the call of duty in his or her job.
“I would like to take the time to commend (Simmons) for her excellent work performance and handling of a recent situation in which she possibly saved the life of a carjacking victim that offenders were planning to murder,” Sgt. Gary Reed wrote in a memo to Police Chief Ray Schultz.
Simmons was dispatched to University of New Mexico Hospital on Aug. 14 after Jeffrey Parkhurst arrived with a gunshot wound to his head. During an interview, Simmons learned the man had been shot because he refused to take part in a plot to kill a man who was going to testify against his carjacker, according to the memo.
The incident began days earlier, when Parkhurst shared a jail cell with Matthew Morrison, who had been accused of carjacking an Albuquerque man on July 22. The two men became friends, and when Parkhurst got out, Morrison let him stay at his home.
One night, Morrison’s friends were plotting the killing of the man Morrison had allegedly carjacked. When Parkhurst refused to participate, one of the men shot him in the head in the parking lot of the Canyon Ridge Apartments on 200 Figueroa St NE.
Parkhurst survived the gunshot wound.
Simmons was able to connect the carjacking suspect to the men who shot Parkhurst and enlisted the help of other detectives. She asked officers to check in on the carjacking witness.
Police eventually arrested three men suspected of attempted murder, including Ray “Ray Ray” Johnson and Brandon “Sniper” Everage. All three were charged with attempted murder, solicitation to commit murder and conspiracy.
“Everyone involved here did an excellent job, however Officer Simmons is the one who linked this together, conducted the interview and disseminated the information to the proper channels ...,” Reed wrote.
Copyright 2010 Albuquerque Journal